El Paso-Gridley moves past LeRoy into final

Friday

Jan 25, 2013 at 12:27 AMJan 25, 2013 at 12:32 AM

Titans nab semifinal-round decision to move into title tilt

Erich Murphy

When looking at the El Paso-Gridley girls’ basketball team, it is easy to point to Rebekah Ehresman and Codee Schlipf as the prime players. But head coach Kyle Bobbitt believes the Titans, ranked fifth in Class 2A, are more than a two-person club. “It is a team, that’s what we focus on,” Bobbitt said after EPG raced past LeRoy 56-39 and into the championship game of the McLean County Tournament Thursday night. “We always play together, we always have someone step up.” Providing a strong scoring punch was a group of players who have been complementing Ehresman and Schlipf for two years. On this night it was Chelsea Kessinger and Jenna Souhrada adding a scoring punch. Kessinger led the Titans (21-1) with 15 points and Souhrada buried three 3-pointers in the first half that added to EPG’s push. Throw in the typical efforts of Ehresman and Schlipf and you have a game-winning performance. Kessinger’s scoring was augmented by her hard-nosed play in fulfilling her responsibilities. “Chelsea’s role on the team is to run down the floor as fast as she can and be ready,” Bobbitt said of Kessinger. “She’s an undersized post but she plays her role very well.” All four scored as the Titans built an 11-3 lead early, but the Panthers came back. That was not unexpected by Bobbitt, who said LeRoy has been on a roll lately. “LeRoy has been playing with a lot of confidence coming in,” he said. “We knew it was going to be a tough match. They get after you.” LeRoy fought back to close to within one, at 16-15, after a Shannon Steffen basket ended the scoring in the first period. The respite between quarters did a world of good for the Titans. EPG came out and outscored the Panthers 10-2 over the first five minutes of the second stanza to take control of the contest. “When we needed to settle, we kind of settled down and got the job done,” Bobbitt said. Ehresman added 12 points and 6 rebounds while Schlipf contributed 10 points, 9 rebounds and 6 steals. Souhrada had 9 points and Mattie Buchanan chipped in 6. Grace Murphy and Darian DeVary netted 2 points apiece. EPG will meet second-seeded Tremont, a 59-41 winner over Tri-Valley, in the other semifinal, at 6:30 p.m. Saturday for the championship.